Why were Gentiles not looking to Jesus for salvation before the cross?

Les explains that during Paul's revelations, Jesus Christ was in glory, and everything Paul writes concerning our doctrine today comes from the Ascended Lord after His death, burial, and resurrection. Les emphasizes that until Jesus went to the cross and died, He was not the object of faith to the main run of Gentiles. But once He had finished the work of the cross and revealed His plan of salvation to this apostle, it became that gospel which Paul preached to the Gentiles. Paul did not receive it from man or by man's teaching, but by revelation of Jesus Christ; he did not confer with flesh and blood or go up to Jerusalem.